Cool + Quiet? Antec 900

[matchu]

Hello, everyone,

I've kind of hinted at this problem in the past. But I'm just looking for some more advice.

Basically, I'm a little irritated by the volume of my pc case. I've thought about the various ways to quiet it down, but i'm not sure which would be the most effective

Specs
Antec 900 (2x front intake 120mm Tricool fans, 1x rear 120mm exhaust, 1x 200mm top exhaust)
Phenom II X4 925 w/ Stock Cooler
HIS Radeon 5850 (Reference design)
WD Caviar Black 320GB HDD
TX750W Corsair PSU
Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P mobo

I've been thinking of replacing the intake fans,which are closest to me physically (comp sitting on desk). but even after disabling all the intake/exhaust fans, the intensity of the noise doesn't seem to have changed noticably.

so... suggestions? if I get a better cpu cooler, will i notice a bigger difference? And GPU cooler as well? What about my HDD? I can definitely hear it spinning, very distinctly.

Budget: $100 CAD give or take; up to $200 if it's really necessary

Thanks, everyone =]

 

[EXCellR8]

if you can hear the hdd spinning loudly it may not be installed right and is vibrating too much. make sure it's seated snugly and the tray isn't loose or something. some drives are louder than others, but you shouldn't hear a lot of noise regardless. as for fans, i would think most of the volume is coming from the 5850 graphics card. ATI cards tend to be a bit noisy but you can adjust the speed. it may be set to 100% in which you could bring it down to say 50% and see if that helps. i would also like to point out that cases with top exhausts are a bit louder because the sound is escaping right out. if you had a solid top, the noise would be less noticeable.

 

[mailpup]

if I get a better cpu cooler, will i notice a bigger difference?

Yes, probably. There are lots of brands and models to choose from and some are better than others. While other members have their favorites, I only have experience with this one for my AMD PCs and it is definitely quieter than stock.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Antec 900 (2x front intake 120mm Tricool fans, 1x rear 120mm exhaust, 1x 200mm top exhaust)

You can adjust the speed of the antec case fans, or take some out.

Phenom II X4 925 w/ Stock Cooler

You can indeed lower volume with a new cooler, sorry I can't recommend any, maybe someone else will.

HIS Radeon 5850 (Reference design)

Ahh... thats a problem.
There are non reference coolers you can add in (i'm not sure if they're out for the 5850), but they are mostly designed for overclocking and better/louder cooling.

 

[captaincranky]

I actually thought that noise was the intended consequence of a really high performance PC, and that's why you need a really loud speaker system to drown it out.

To wit, "man, that must be a really powerful computer, listen to all the noise it makes".

Face it, they don't put mufflers on a top fuel dragster.

Sorry, I wax poetic sometimes.

Just to add something to the discussion, generally the larger the CPU fan is, the slower it runs, hence the quieter. The trouble with recommending coolers is that reviews tend to be all over the map. You might try "Overclockers, TweakTown, or "Tom's hardware" to see what they're pushing as best nowadays.

 

[matchu]

thanks for the input, everyone

If... i'm feeling rich, maybe I'll get a new vga and cpu coolers. big ones. and slower ones. hhahah.

or heck, maybe i'll just replace ALL of it. -__--